ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO ...

One hundred years ago, November 20th, 1911, a small ceremony took place which foreshadowed the opening up of central British Columbia to the rest of Canada. A brief item in the Fort George Herald reported that the rails of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway passed into British Columbia on November 20th, 1911, at 8:34 Pacific Standard Time.

This was one of the first events which now, one hundred years later, are worthy of being noted. For years, work had been taking place surveying, clearing, levelling, filling and blasting in wild and rugged conditions through the Yellowhead Pass, and into what became the Robson Valley. When all was prepared the real excitement of achievement came when the tracks were laid and modern transport could be established.  By July 1912 the "Pioneer," the impressive looking tracklayer, had completed laying the rails to Tete Jaune. Two months later in the first week of September, a regular service of three trains a week was inaugurated  between Edmonton and Tete Jaune Cache. The Fort George Herald of September 7th reported that the trains were complete with "dining cars and all regular conveniences."

When the Foley Welch and Stewart steamships had finished freighting railway workers and materials on the Skeena River, the railway contractors dismantled them at Vancouver and shipped them on the Canadian Pacific to Calgary, up to Edmonton on the Grand Trunk, west to the end of steel and finally by horse power to Tete Jaune where they were reconstructed.  May 2012 is the centenary of the launching of sternwheeler steamships Conveyor and Operator at Tete Jaune.

In spring 1913 the rails reached the large railway construction camp at Mile 90, also planned as a divisional point on the railway. It was established as a town and officially named McBride on July 1st, 1913. This was considered McBride's birthday and was celebrated with enthusiasm by early residents.  By the end of August 1913, the rails had reached Dome Creek to the west, and passenger service was established through
what became the Robson Valley. It continues to this day - three trains a week, each way.

By rail or road visit an elegant legacy of the railway, McBride's heritage railway station, open daily year-round, and see Valley Museum photos and murals about the railway.

Marilyn Wheeler,
November 2011